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` CHAIR. No. 416,906. Patented Dec. 10,1889.

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l GHAIR. i No.v 416,906. Patented Deo. 1.0, '1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT l OFFICE.'

PHILIP FLOWERS, or Sr. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR To RIvERIoUs T;

' HIGGINS, or SAME PLAGE. y

CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,906, dated December 10, 1889.

Application led November 17, 1888. Serial No. 291,134. (No model.) l l To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP FLOWERS, of St.

' Louis, Missouri, have made a new and useful ing the improvement, portions being broken away and in section; Fig. 2, a side elevation, the chair being upright; Fig. 3, a view in perspective, from the rear side thereof, of one of the leg-rest bars; Fig. 4, a view in perspective of the iron used in the leg-rest bars; Fig. 5, a vertical section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 a side elevation of the chair reclined. j

The same letters of reference denote the same parts. j I

Saving as the chair may be modified or supplemen ted by the improvement in question, it is of the customary construction. It may have a iiXed base, be made to rock directly upon the floor, or to rock upon a base. The chair illustrated is of the last-named type, the' chair having rockers A, adapted to be rocked upon a base B. i

The seat of the chair is shown at C; and D `represents the chair-back, E the arms, and F the leg-rest. The back is jointed to the seatframe G at cl, to the seat C at d, and to the arms E at d2. The arms E at"or toward the forward end @thereof are respectively jointed to the leg-rest bars f f. The bars f f are pivoted at f to the seat-frame. They serve several purposes: to connect the arms E at the forward end thereof with the seat-frame; to support the leg-rest F, and to support the forward end of the seat C. The first-named purpose is the leading one, for owing to thel cial manner of arranging the described joints is also a matter of importance, and will hereinafter be mentioned. The seat C is free to be moved forward and backwardin the chair. The seat,`as stated, is jointed to the back' at d. This point is below the pivot d, and hence as the back is turned on its pivot d from an upright position downward and backward the seat is shifted forward in the chair. The forward end of the seat rides upon supports-such as the rollers f2-at-tached to bearings f3 upon the bars f f. The weight which comes upon the seat is thus supported partly at its point of connection with the back and partly by the leg-rest at a point below the pivots f j".

The leg-rest F is jointed at]c4 to the seat C,

and it is supported upon the bars ff, so that as the back is turned down it (the leg-rest) is moved outward thereon, and as the back is turned up it is moved inward thereon. To this end the bars f f are provided with rollers f5 f5, upon which the leg-rest rides.

The operation of the improved chair is as follows: In the upright position, Fig. 2, ofthe chair the weight of the occupant comes mainly upon the seat and but slightly upon the back and leg-rest.` As the back is turned backward more of the Weight comes uponjthe back and leg-rest. The forces acting upon the movable parts of the chair are then as follows: `The force acting upon the back above the pivot d tends to turn the back backward and downward. The force acting upon the rear portion ofthe seat tends to turn the back forward and upward, and the force acting upon the leg-rest tends to turn the back upward and forward in the followingmanner: The leg-rest is in effect a lever having the joints f for a fulcrum, and through the arms acting, when a weight comes upon the legrest, to exert a pull upon the back at a point above the back pivot (l. Owing to the special manner of arranging the 4joints f', e, d, and d2, the leverage of the leg-rest is exerted to especial advantage. The peculiarity referred yto consists in the distance of the joint.m f from the joint e being less than the distance of the joint d from the joint d2. In practice the ratio of the first-named distance to the last-named distance is four and one- Ico halt' to five and tive-eighths, the distance from the jointf to the joint e in the average ehair being four and one-half inches, and from the joint d to the joint d2 being five and five eighths inches. By reason of this described relation of the joints that portion of the legrest bars which extends from the joint e to the joint f" becomes a shorter lever-arm than does that portion of the back which is be tween the joints CZ d2; hence a lighter weight upon the leg-rest is sufficient to balance a heavier weight upon the back. As the back is turned backward and downward the' seat is shifted forward in the chair and the leg rest is shifted farther outward in the leg-rest bars. The weight on the seat and leg-rest is therefore farther removed from the points upon which the back and the leg-rest bars respectivel);T turn; hence the farther the back is turned down the more advantageously does the weight upon the seat and leg-rest act in eounterbalancing the force acting upon the upper portion of the back. vThe practical result attained is the balancing of the chair, however its back, seat, and leg-rest may be adjusted. However the back, seat, and leg rest may be arranged, whether the back is turned farther down and the leg-rest farther up, or the reverse, the ooeupants weightdoes not disturb the equilibrium. of the chair, and the ehair-base can be rocked upon in the same manner substantially as can a plain rocking-chair be rocked upon an ordinary licor.

The seat at its forward end rests, as

stated, upon the leg-rest bars. I consider this the best 'support for the forward end of the seat, as a portion of the weight upon the seat is thus transferred to the leg-rest bars and utilized in counterbalaneing the force acting upon the back.

The leg-rest bars are in practice composed partly of the iron f6, which is contained in a suitable mortise f7 in the main portion f8 of the leg-rest bars, Figs. 3 and 4.

I claiml. The combination of the seat-frame, the back hinged thereto at d, the leg-rest bars hinged to said frame at f andprovided with a sliding leg and foot rest, a seat hinged at the lower end of the back and to said sliding foot and leg rest, and an arm-rest hinged to the back at d2 and to the leg-rest bars at e, substantially as specified.

l2. The combination of the seat-trarne, the

back hinged thereto at d, the leg-rest bars hinged to said frame at f and provided with a sliding` leg and foot rest, a seat hinged at the lower end of the back and to said sliding foot and leg rest, and an arm-rest hinged to the back at cl2 and to the leg-rest bars at e, the distance between the pivotal points cl2 and dbeing greater than that between the points e and j", substantially as specified.

Witness my hand.

PHILIP FLOWERS. XVitnesses:

C. D. MOODY, D. XV. A. SANFORD. 

